‘We Can Do This Together’: New TMA Alliance President Uses Community Service to Bolster Medical Advocacy
By Alisa Pierce Texas Medicine May 2026

When Lydia Soldano moved to Austin with her husband, pathologist Anthony Soldano, MD, in 2007, she had one goal in mind: to meet like-minded individuals who shared her passion for community service. 

She didn’t have to look far. Shortly after moving to the state capital, Ms. Soldano was invited to a local chapter meeting of the Texas Medical Association Alliance (TMAA), where, with a toddler on her hip, she was introduced to lifelong friends – and found a sounding board for her community service ideas.  

“I found an amazing group of people that had the same shared experiences. You don’t know how welcoming it feels for someone to understand when you can’t make dinner plans because your spouse is on call, or what it’s like managing young children while dealing with your spouse’s crazy schedule,” she said. 

Since that meeting, Ms. Soldano has forged a path through TMAA and organized medicine, holding 14 separate alliance leadership positions while making time to get a master’s degree in education. 

From serving as a TMAA liaison to TMA’s Committee on Membership – now the Council on Membership Experience – to her 2012-2013 presidency of the Travis County Medical Alliance (TCMA), Austin’s local chapter of TMAA, Ms. Soldano has given countless hours to advance medical community outreach programs and alliance membership initiatives. (See “A Decade of Service,” page 20.) 

Now, as TMAA’s newest president, she aims to use that expansive experience to further the organization’s advocacy and community goals, while still leaving room to learn a few things herself. 

“I’m bringing my experience to the table, but I know I’m going to learn a few things from this presidency,” she told Texas Medicine. “The best way to do something right is to learn about it.” 

Trying new things 

Founded in 1918 by physician wives, TMAA is a diverse volunteer force of approximately 1,700 spouses and partners of physicians, along with physicians, residents, and medical students from across Texas who work on behalf of medicine through community service and legislative advocacy, such as through TMA’s award-winning program, First Tuesdays at the Capitol. 

Ms. Soldano says her Travis County alliance membership served as a “home base” to channel her energy for community engagement. When she eventually became president of TCMA, she worked to encourage other alliance members to approach community events with the same enthusiasm. 

For example, Ms. Soldano worked to garner attention for local iterations of her “favorite” TMA outreach program – Hard Hats for Little Heads – and personally oversaw the distribution of helmets to many children around Austin, some of whom were her past students from a former career as an educator. As she enters her TMAA presidency, she hopes to expand and increase the visibility of the program. 

However, while community service has always been a pillar in Ms. Soldano’s life, she admits she’s not as experienced with medical advocacy. She loves speaking one-on-one, she says, rather than in front of large groups of people. 

Remembering how she once encouraged her students to “try new things,” she now plans to live by that advice during her presidency – even if it makes her a little nervous. 

“During my presidency, advocacy will be tantamount,” she said. “One of my goals is to encourage first-time visitors to come to First Tuesdays at the Capitol, and even if it’s scary, let them know we can do this together.” 

Ms. Soldano proudly notes that the alliance is already “making an impact” across organized medicine. She hopes to build on that foundation to get “an even bigger” group of alliance members involved in advocacy.  

On that note, Ms. Soldano hopes to inspire more alliance members to attend TMAA’s many membership events – like local Connect Over Coffee gatherings and the annual conference, ALLMED. She strives to recruit new TMAA members, and boost attendance across community outreach initiatives hosted both by TMA and the alliance. 

Likewise, she aims to continue the legacy of her predecessor, TMAA immediate past president Joi Smith, by finding new ways to strengthen the health of her community, whether through alliance-driven canned food drives or by promoting physician-led health events like Walk with a Doc. 

“I’m excited to work from the foundation that Joi and previous presidents have built,” she said. “I love the alliance, and I love the medical community.”